The Red Ribbon
by BellatrixLestrangey
Summary: Femslash February 2020. Day 21: Ribbon. Mai visits Azula in the institution and helps her fix her hair.


Mai runs the brush through Azula's ravaged tresses. The princess isn't sure if the tingles in her belly come from Mai seeing her in such a pathetic and haphazard state or from Mai simply being there.

She isn't' sure why her former friend is visiting. Visiting and talking to her as though they don't have any bad blood towards one another.

Mai sighs, "I'm going to have to cut your bangs. Hopefully I can even them out."

Azula touches her fingers to her uneven bangs and bites the inside of her cheek. She likes her bangs. At least she likes the one side that she hasn't made a mess of. She gives Mai and affirmative nod regardless.

Mai gives the ribbon in her hair a tug. It falls away and Azula's locks fan out and settle like silk over her shoulders. "Alright, hold still and I'll see if I can make something of this."

"You can't possibly do a worse job than I did."

"It's not as bad as you think." Mai reassures. "It shouldn't be too hard to fix."

Azula shrugs. "If you do mess it up, no one is going to see me anyways, I'm stuck in here." Here eyes grow more downcast.

"Not for long." Mai makes the first cut. Azula hears the snip of scissors. "Zuko has been talking about letting you get therapy at home."

"Home…" She repeats to herself.

A few more snips and the floor is dotted with her hair. Mai holds a mirror up. The knots in Azula's belly grow. She finds that she doesn't like how it looks without her bangs to frame her face. "I don't like it." She mumbles glumly.

"Hmm." Mai hums. "You want me to give you a full haircut? I think that I have a good haircut for you."

Azula hesitates. She supposes that Mai can't make her hair look any worse. Unless of course she puts a deliberate effort into doing so. "I don't know…"

"It'll suit you very well. Trust me."

There it is.

That's the problem.

It always is. Azula fidgets with the ribbon, curling it around her pointer.

Mai rolls her eyes. "It's a haircut not a second attempt at friendship."

She thinks that Mai is only joking but she also considers that, perhaps, she does want it to be a rekindled friendship. The notion unsettles her.

"Alright." She decides . "You can cut it." If she ends up liking what Mai does with her hair, she will take it as her sign to trust the girl with larger matters. If this is a ploy to further humiliate her then she will retreat back into the safety of self isolation.

Mai picks up the scissors, not knowing how much weight they truly hold. She clips up the portions of Azula's hair that she isn't working with. "You seem like you're doing better. :

Azula shrugs. It's all relevant. "A little." Not shrieking and conversing with things that aren't there is a start.

"I guess you'll do better at home." Mai replies as she cuts away. "TyLee was always good at cheering you up. Even if you won't admit it."

"She makes me happy." Azula confesses. "Made." She corrects. "You both did." She adds very quietly.

"Well maybe I'll make you happy again today."

Azula swallows. "Maybe...I hope so." She tries to sound confident or at least nonchalant. But she feels so meek and small.

Mai nods in way of an answer. Something about her continued silence makes Azula want to speak. To alleviate the awkward tension. It could be that she is the only one who feels the tension. "I just want things to go back to the way they were."

"That's not going to happen." Mai mutters coldly.

She knows this, but it doesn't lessen the desire. Her conversation having failed, she stares at her palms.

"But things can get better." Mai adds. "They got better for me."

_Because I'm no longer in your life. _Azula fills in. She doesn't say it out loud. It must bleed through in her posture because Mai says, "don't move so much. Things are a lot easier without having to worry about a war."

But Azula doesn't know anything else. She isn't sure that she will be able to adjust. This time she creates the silence.

Mai takes a step back, she looks Azula over and resumes snipping. Azula watches her locks fall.

Long locks.

Her stomach sinks.

"Almost done."

"You hate me." She remarks simply.

Mai inhales deeply. "I don't hate you. I'm mad as hell, but I don't hate you." Azula wonders all over again, why she is here doing her a favor.

She goes quiet again. She doesn't even know how to begin to fix things. "I don't want you to be. Believe it or not, I don't like being alone."

"Geeze." Mai laughs. "What have they done to you? I haven't seen this level of brainwashing since Ba Sing Se."

"They haven't done anything. I'm just…" she pauses. "Sad." Sad, resigned, and fresh out of dignity.

"If it makes you feel better, I broke up with Zuko. He's been ignoring me to focus on his duties as Fire Lord."

It doesn't. In fact, it makes things worse. It makes her feel as though she had been abandoned for no reason at all. Until she recalls her less than spectacular treatment of the woman. Her lower lip quivers and she finds herself biting the inside of her lip.

Mai steps back again. She ruffles Azula's hair, it feels so much lighter. "There, you're done." Mai holds up the mirror again.

Azula swallows. She runs her fingers through her hair. "It's so short." She isn't sure how to feel about it. The neat and orderly way Mai has it styled tells her that the girl hadn't cut it so short out of ill will. Still, the princess isn't sure how to feel about having hair reaching only just below her ears.

"Very observant." Mai quips. "You implied that you wanted a fresh start, so I figured that we can start with your hair." She picks up the ribbon that had once so tightly confined Azula's hair. "We'll start by discarding your dad's restrictions and traditions."

_A small act of defiance. Embracing imperfections._ Azula thinks to herself. She inspects her reflection further. The face in the glass is so familiar, yet profoundly different. Perhaps more mature, more angular.

"Well?"

"It's…" she trails off. Going to take some adjusting...a lot of adjusting. "Nice, I suppose." It certainly isn't unflattering or poorly suited. "Thank you for making something of my mess."

"So you'd trust me to cut it again?"

"I suppose." She hesitates. "I. I trust you." Though it sounds more like a question than a statement.

"That's a start." Mai says.

"Visiting hours are up." Calls a voice.

Azula frowns, it is always when things are beginning to pick up. "You're going to visit again, yes?" Her stomach lurches; it was a wonder that she even stopped by this time.

"How else am I going to hear about how everyone reacts to your new haircut?"

Azula tries a smile. It is small and somewhat melancholy, but there no less. She holes the ribbon out to Mai. "I guess that I have no use for this."

"True." Mai agrees.

"Hold on to it for me?"

"Sure." Mai agrees. She takes the ribbon, unwittingly accepting another test of faith. She heads for the doorway and pauses before going through it. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Somehow, parting ways with the ribbon feels like she is setting this in stone. The door closes and she runs her fingers though her hair once more.

It is a reminder of a fresh start.

Of a chance to tell Mai just how much she means to her. A chance to finally vocalize the love she had so carefully repressed.


End file.
